Golf Creations returns to its roots

MARENGO, Ill. - Based on the changing needs of its customers, golf course contractor Golf Creations, the sister construction division of Lohmann Golf Designs (LGD), has refocused its core business strategy by focusing on its strengths, namely greens, tees and bunkers.

Bob Lohmann, founder and principal of both LGD and Golf Creations, said Golf Creations is returning to its roots.

“We’re getting back to what we did when we founded Golf Creations back in 1986,” he said. “We created the company to do feature and specialty construction: greens, tees and bunkers. That’s what we do best, that’s what the market needs right now, so that’s what we’ll concentrate on going forward.”

Lohmann said the company got away from these core strengths during the construction boom of the 1990s.

“It led to drainage and sod work, irrigation jobs, huge clearing projects and mass grading,” he said. “One thing led to another and pretty soon we were doing entire golf courses. We attempted to fill a market void because, at that time, there weren’t enough full-service contractors out there to meet the demand.”

All that expansion, Lohmann said, led Golf Creations farther from its core competencies.

“That sort of construction was not what we created Golf Creations to do, and it’s not what we do best,” he said. “Our expertise is in construction management, intricate feature construction on greens bunkers and tees, and pulling all this together in an economical package for our clients. So that’s what we’ll be doing from now on.”

Despite scaling back on the scope of projects it handles, Lohmann said Golf Creations has maintained a constant level of staffing during the transition.

Lohmann said the refocused Golf Creations will give clients flexibility and will complement LGD’s design expertise.

“If we do a bigger job, we can bring in other contractors to do the mass grading or irrigation,” Lohmann said.

Golf Creations recently completed a tee renovation project at Grand Geneva Resort in Wisconsin, and has more projects lined up through the rest of the year. The company will continue with modification work at the resort’s Brute and Highlands courses and will also continue work at Canyata, a “personal” 18-hole course underway on the Marshall, Ill., estate of energy magnate Jerry Forsythe. The company is also working on a bunker-renovation project at Troon Golf-managed Eagle Ridge Resort.